


Sleepless Nights

by RGIG



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Bruce fights a lot of crime alright, Everyone is tired, F/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:21:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8429524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RGIG/pseuds/RGIG
Summary: Fighting crime in Gotham can be a rather time consuming task. Usually Bruce can handle time management fairly well, but lately crime has gone up. Now the lack of downtime is effecting more than just him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> In my mind, the reader is quite a bit younger than Bruce, but she can be read at any age you want.

For the past two weeks, crime in Gotham had been steadily rising. Bruce hadn't been home for longer than a total of five hours in the past ten days, and the man had gotten even less sleep. The secret vigilante had run himself ragged working to round up the sudden surge of criminals. Alfred had been trying to convince the younger man to take a night off to rest for days now. Bruce hadn't heeded the English man's concerned advice- he rarely did when our came to things like this. The city needed Batman more than he needed sleep right now. At least that's what Bruce had been telling himself every night as he forced his heavy lidded eyes to stay open and alert. 

So far, this night was no different. Bruce had immediately entered the cave when he arrived home from a day at work. He had changed into the suit and eaten the dinner Alfred had made him at the same time; the older man's gaze stayed fixed on his charge as he bustled quickly over to his weapons storage area. Internally, Bruce was grateful that he was only receiving a stare today, and not the lecture he'd been treated to the past nights. 

When the billionaire started towards his armored vehicle, he saw the reason for Alfred's unusual silence. ______ sat on the front of the Batmobile’s long hood with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her arms hugged her bare legs closer to her torso, the sleeves of Bruce's largest sweatshirt covered the girl's small arms completely. Her hair was tussled and there were dark, purple bruises under her beautiful eyes. ______’s gorgeous eyes that Bruce loved so much, usually so full of life and expression, were half lidded and dull as she watched her bare feet press against the cold metal of the impressive car. 

The sight of ______ hunched in on herself, and so clearly tired- exhausted- nearly brought the man to his knees with regret. God, how long had it been since he'd even seen her? Bruce could just barely remember catching her on his way out of the manor two days ago. She'd been coming up the stairs as he rushed down, late for a meeting at Wayne Enterprises. He'd pecked her on the cheek as he blew past, calling out a hurried apology behind him. 

Bruce's feet had carried him the rest of the distance to the car automatically as he thought. When he reached the hood just in front of ______ he stopped and they both looked up. His bright blue eyes met her (e/c), both of them rimmed in dark shades of purple. Without a word, the two moved towards each other. 

______ released her legs and held out her arms as Bruce pulled her body into his chest. They held tight to one another in their embrace, ______ still seated on the hood, her arms around the tall man's covered neck. A peaceful silence enveloped the lovers as if this were the first time in so long that they felt whole again. 

Finally, after several moments ______ pushed her head under Bruce's chin and whispered, “Bruce…” her voice was hoarse and the desperate edge in her tone prompted the caped hero to clutch her tighter to his broad chest. “Please don't make me spend another night alone.” Already, her voice started to waver and her shoulders trembled with repressed shudders. “Please-” her throat caught and tears leaked from the corners of her tightly shut eyes. 

“...______.” Bruce said softly, his own voice was steady, but his hands betrayed his emotion by moving to stroke the girl’s hair and back gently. “I have to go. Gotham-”

“I know, Gotham needs you.” She interrupted him, shaking her head quickly, “I can't ask you to stay with me while people are getting hurt, but- Please Bruce, come home to me tonight. Come sleep with me in our bed for just a few hours. I'm not asking you to stay- just don't forget that I'm waiting for you.” By the time she'd finished, ______’s tears had soaked into Bruce's suit and it was taking all of his willpower not to carry her up to their room and lie with her all night. 

“I won't.” He promised, “I could never forget you're waiting for me.” Bruce pulled away from ______ to kiss her forehead softly. His gloved hands reached up and gently wiped her tears away. ______ titled her chin up and caught Bruce's lips in a brief, tender kiss. 

The muscular man easily lifted her off of the hood and set her gently on the floor of the cave. He stood back, breaking the kiss and pulling the cowl over his head at the same time. ______ lifted one hand, letting the long sleeve fall down her arm to expose her fingers. She silently ran them over the Bat symbol emblazoned on Bruce's chest with an almost fond look in her tired eyes. 

“I love you.” She said, looking up to peer into the white lenses of the man's cowl. “Come home to me.”

Bruce's gloved hand held ______’s much smaller one against his chest, right above his heart. “Always.”

______ cried as the Batmobile roared to life and sped from the cave at high speed. Alfred silently wrapped a warm quilt around her shoulders and she patted his hand in a nonverbal thanks. For the next six hours, the (h/c) girl sat in front of the large computer screen in the Batcave, watching the news and listening to police scanners to keep an eye out for any big trouble. By the time 12:45am rolled around, ______ had fallen asleep, wrapped in a quilt in Bruce's chair. 

When Bruce finally got back, two hours later, ______ was still there. The vigilante signed at the sight of her curled uncomfortably in his chair, and quickly got to work shucking off his suit. He took a two minute shower to wash away that night's grime, and changed into a pair of loose sweatpants before finally carrying ______ upstairs. 

Her eyes fluttered and slowly edged open, immediately landing on Bruce's worn features. A sleepy smile stretched across her lips and one sweater covered hand reached up to cup the stubbled cheek of the man and loved more than anything. “You're home.” The simple, whispered statement felt like a sigh of relief. 

“I promised, didn't I?” One corner of Bruce's lips turned up, forming that smirk that ______ adored on him. ______ gave him a look that spoke of just how awake she really was- hardly at all- and she snuggled her head closer to his neck. 

“Missed you.” She sighed, and her warm breath tickled his neck and blew over his collar bone. The dark haired man had to suppress a pleased shudder at the feeling as he backed the two of them into their bedroom. The door clicked softly closed behind them and the billionaire carried the sleepy girl to their huge bed. “Bed’s too empty without you…” ______ yawned as Bruce pulled back the duvet and sheet. 

His heart clenched at the confession. ______ had obviously been losing sleep for some time now due to his constant absence. Even worse, he hadn't even known until today. Bruce carefully laid her on the bed and crawled in after her, pulling the blankets over the both of them. 

“I'm sorry, sweetheart,” he said, his voice low and rough, contrasting with ______ favorite pet name. “I'm here now. I'm here.” Their bodies pressed together, limbs tangling and embracing one another. 

Bruce would never stop marveling at how well they fit together. His body was so hard, full of bulging muscles and covered with rough, scarred skin. He completely enveloped ______, with her gentle curves, and her smooth skin. His calloused hands ran lightly over her sleeping form. The feeling lulling both of them to sleep. 

Within seconds, ______’s breathing had evened out and her body fully relaxed. The man smiled, his lips curving softly in the way they so rarely did, and he leaned down to press a long kiss to the top of her head before drifting off to sleep himself.


End file.
